


Paperthin Hymn

by sgteam14283



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: American Revolution, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Historical References, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-26 23:31:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15673497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgteam14283/pseuds/sgteam14283
Summary: Clint really has to learn not to touch mystical objects.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for this was involuntary time travel from alphaflyer and it happened to fit something I've been working on for awhile! Slight crossover with Assassin's Creed 3 (like so slight that I'm not even tagging it) and I don't own anything you recognize; fiction or historical. Also a few liberties have been taken with the historical events mentioned to fit the story. Let me know your thoughts and enjoy!

_"What's that green thing called again? The Eye of Aga...Agriculture?"_

_“Agamotto, Barton.”_

_“Oh cool."_

_“No…No, Don’t Touch That!”_

As they ran Clint hated the fact that his habit of picking up things that do weird stuff had gotten them in trouble once again. One moment they were talking with Tony and Strange, Clint picked up the kinda tacky looking necklace then him, Natasha, and Steve were in a busy thoroughfare with horses about to run them over. Leaping off the edge of the tiled roof, Clint wondered when the rest of the team would figure out that they were in Revolutionary War Boston.

Landing easily, Clint continued running through the streets and gave a cursory glance behind to see that the guards that had originally given chase were still behind them and that more had joined. 

And they were running out of street. 

“ _God damn it._ ” he thought to himself as he ducked into an alley with Natasha and Steve following, running out the opposite end. Melding with the market crowd, Clint turned to see Nat and Steve right behind him.

“What do we do now?” Natasha asked as she glimpsed back to check their six and saw the group of British soldiers round a corner and fan out.

“Make sure we loose these guards.” Steve said as he moved behind Natasha-to try and shield her red hair from view. “Maybe find some clothes to blend in.”

“This brings back memories.” Natasha said with a hint of a smile as they slowly made their way through the crowd.

“What part? The running or the fact that we have no way of getting back to our time? Have you time traveled before and not told me?” Clint asked as he narrowly dodged a cart.

Natasha shot Clint a look and opened her mouth to reply when a shout of ‘Over there!’ rang across the plaza. All three turned to see the soldiers start pushing their way through the crowd, trying to get close to them.

“Shit.” Steve said as they inched closer and closer. 

“C’mon.” Natasha started shoving her way through the crowd, ignoring the shouts as she led Clint and Steve away from the chaos. She should be glad that early guns had horrible accuracy at long ranges or they would be adding ‘wounded and bleeding’ to their list of things that were going wrong. “Towards the wharf, maybe we can lose them there!”

Heading in that direction with Steve and Nat, Clint ran up and over a pile of boxes so he could move through the knot of people-smiling a little when he heard their shouts of confusion at the sight of three strangely dressed people running past. “This is all your fault.” he yelled to Natasha as they rounded a corner only to stumble into another group of guards who called out for them to stop. 

“ _My_ fault!?” Natasha shot back as they quickly backtracked and continued to run along the docks. “Do you really want to play that game right now? Besides, _I_ wasn’t the one who mouthed off to the guard when he was talking to us.”

“He didn’t believe that we were from New York.”

“That’s because you got insulted when he asked what tribe you got your bow from.” 

“Well, you wearing pants is what got us stopped in the first place!” 

“Clint, _you_ were the one who touched the Eye!” Steve shouted over the sound of gunfire, ducking with everyone else but still keeping up the pace.

All this running was doing nothing but wearing them out and they needed to lose their tails before someone really got hurt. Spotting a low overhanging, Clint veered towards it, leaping over a box that someone had left in the middle of the street and jumping to pull himself up onto the wooden planks. He jumped once more to reach the post hanging over it and pulled himself onto the roof of the building. After making sure they were safe for the moment, Clint took a deep breath and looked at the skyline of the city; houses mixed in with shops and churches, all made out of wood and two stories at best. 

Turning around he gazed at the masts scattered about the wharf, “So...to sum up: no money, no place to crash, the guards are looking for us, and we’re stuck here until they somehow figure out where- _when_ we are.”

“Yup. That’s pretty much it.” Natasha replied as the wind whipped her hair around and she tucked a stray strand behind her ear. Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she automatically pulled out one of her knives while turning-only to catch a mixture of white and blue as whoever was watching them disappeared. Narrowing her eyes, she wondered who they were and how long they’d been following them. Turning back to Clint she saw in his expression that he’s seen it too. “Who do you think it was?”

Clint shrugged, “No clue, but at least they’re not chasing us.” 

“Yeah...” Natasha said as she turned back to where the figure had been while shading her eyes against the setting sun. “We should find somewhere to stay the night.”

As they took off along the rooftops, Clint had a feeling that sooner or later they’d find out who their watcher was.

—

Clint heard the noise from inside the room he shared with Steve and opened the window to see a stream of people marching towards the docks. It had been just over two weeks since they arrived in Boston and now that the first snowfall had hit, Clint found himself missing things like central heating and streaming _Dog Cops_ when things got slow.

Another window opened and Natasha stuck her head out. “What’s going on?” she called over to Clint.

“Dunno. Where’s Steve?”

“Downstairs hustling cards for the rest of the money.” Both her and Clint had played cards with Steve back at the Tower so they knew his unassuming nature would work against the merchants that visited the tavern. Natasha just hoped that they’d finally have enough money to get out of the city and into the wilderness. That way if they had to live through the Revolutionary War, they could do so without actually being in the city.

She’d already survived one revolution and didn’t care to live through another.

Clint suppressed a smile as a shout drew his attention back towards the crowd. Things were heating up in Boston, the colonists not happy about the taxes being imposed on them so England could pay for the Seven Years War and England not caring since they viewed the east coast as an investment; they’d put money into the settlement and now they wanted their return.

And it appeared that the colonists were finally doing something to show their displeasure. 

“Wanna see what they’re going to do?” he asked Natasha over the singing of the crowd.

“Sure. I’ll grab Steve and meet you down there.” 

Clint watched as Natasha disappeared and watched the crowd for a few more minutes before ducking back inside himself. Grabbing the brown overcoat and black tricorner hat he’d stolen when they’d first arrived, he hustled down the steps to the tavern floor. Normally busy, all but a few tables were empty-everyone crowding at the windows or outside to watch the march to the docks.

“Ready?” Natasha asked Clint as she spotted him. He nodded and the three of them slipped out the back, it was easy since everyone’s attention was diverted. Moving with everyone to the dock’s they arrived as a cheer went up among the mob. Wanting to get a better vantage point, Clint climbed up on one of the lampposts. Natasha did the same on another while Steve climbed to the top of some boxes stacked along the street.

Clint looked towards one of the ships at the wharf, seeing a number of men dressed in Native American outfits. Frowning, Clint watched as they hauled boxes of what he assumed were tea and dumped them into the water. The crowd cheered each time a box was dumped over and Clint could see the British soldiers that had gathered were unsure what to do. For the most part they looked slightly amused and milled with the rest of the crowd.

Natasha watched as another box of tea hit the water and wished she could take photos with her phone, that way she’d have proof that she was actually at the Boston Tea Party. But it was dead and just having it out would lead to questions she wouldn’t have answers to. A whistle caught her attention and she looked over to Steve who nodded towards the ship on the left. 

Following his gaze, she saw familiar white and blue against the railing. It took a moment for it to register that the outfit belonged to the same person who’d tracked them their first day in Boston and (according to local gossip) seemed to pop up every so often in the city; normally to cause some kind of trouble for the British.

“ _He’s with the Sons of Liberty._ ” she thought as the last chest hit the water with a roar from the crowd. Glancing at Clint she saw that he’d spotted the stranger as well, and nodded-with the mass of people it’d be easy to track him; following him at a distance.

Pushing past a group of men loudly singing as they walked down the street, Natasha saw the stranger duck between two buildings. Giving it a few seconds, she signaled to Steve and Clint to follow her. Walking into the darkness, Natasha saw the fist headed towards her at the last second. Ducking, the hand skimmed over her head and she instantly reacted-tackling the man and pushing him against the side of one of the buildings. 

Hands gripped her arms and the stranger shoved Natasha to the side and she stumbled back, tripping over a bucket someone had left out.

“Why are you following me?” Natasha heard the stranger shout as Clint and Steve rushed towards him.

“You were following us first.” Clint replied as he swung a punch towards the man while Steve helped Natasha up. 

The punch connected and the man stumbled backwards before spitting out, “Who sent you? Was it _Charles Lee_?” 

“Who?” Steve asked, the name ringing a bell but he couldn’t place it exactly. Not waiting for answer, he rushed the man-sending both of them crashing into a fence and pinning him to the ground.

“The General?” Clint said as the same time, wondering how the guy Washington put in charge before Lafayette fit into this.

“Listen. This…Lee didn’t send us. We’re just trying to get back home, maybe take in a few of the sights before then.” Steve said as he worked to keep the man on the ground. “You tailed us a few weeks ago so you’re the one who started this.”

The man stilled at Steve’s last statement and was silent for a few seconds before saying, “You were the ones in the strange clothing.”

“Uh…yeah.” Clint said while slipping out a knife and keeping it close, not knowing what was going to happen next.

“Until you three, I was the only one to avoid the soldiers like that. Did you train with the Order?”

Natasha tensed and felt Clint do the same, knowing he had the same questioning look on his face. The Order?

“…Sure.” Clint said after a moment of silence, hoping that was the correct answer.

“Then I must apologize. I did not realize there were still members in the colonies.” 

“I think we’re good Steve.” Natasha said as she got the feeling that the stranger was suddenly on their side.

Steve cast a glance back at Natasha but released his hold and got up off the ground. “And you are…”

“I am Connor.” he said while standing. “And your names?”

“Steve. And this is Clint and Natasha.” Steve said while taking a step back and folding his arms.

“Where are you staying?” 

“At the tavern owned by Cal. It’s not far from here.” Natasha said, still keeping the knife she’d pulled out by her side. “You know where it is?”

“I do. I have some other business to take care of tonight but can I meet with you tomorrow?”

They were silent for a moment, exchanging glances before Steve nodded. “Sure. Maybe we can straighten this whole thing out.”

“Tomorrow.” Connor said with a nod as he tripped the rope pulley that lifted him to the rooftops.

“Talk about a dramatic exit.” Clint muttered as they walked back out to the main street. By then the crowd had mostly dispersed so the three of them made good time back to the tavern. Walking straight up to their rooms, it wasn’t long until Clint heard a knock on the door.

“It’s open.” he said before blowing out the candle. “Electricity.” 

“Indoor plumbing.” Natasha said as she entered the room and closed the door. “Food that isn’t smoked or in a stew.”

“My iPod and smartphone.”

“Penicillin.” Natasha climbed into the bed with Clint and settled into his arms. In the last week it had become a routine, switching with Steve and going over things that they missed from their time. Being in Clint’s arms made all of this seem less daunting than it really was. They lay in silence for a few minutes before she asked, “Why did you say we were with the order?”

“I dunno. Something about him seems familiar but I can’t place it. At least he stopped fighting us.”

“True. But what other business do you think he has to do here?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. But it seems like he’s anti-British like the rest of the people here.”

“Hmm.” Natasha mumbled, already feeling the pull of sleep. “Well maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll figure out where we are before the war starts.”


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still stuck in the past Clint, Natasha, and Steve try to find a way home.

Natasha glanced out the window of their cabin to see the sun shining and a warm breeze coming through the open door. This was their second spring since they’d gotten transported back in time so while her and Steve still hoped that Strange and Tony would figure out some way to get them back, Clint had grown quiet-spending more and more time in the forest; hunting, training, or going on missions with Connor.

The day after meeting the assassin at the Boston Tea Party, he had offered them a place on the homestead he lived and operated from. They would have more supplies and be able to move more freely than if they stayed in the city. But if they wanted to stay in Boston it could be arranged as well. They quickly made the decision to travel to the homestead because they knew the reprisals for dumping the tea were going to happen soon. After that it was only a matter of time until the colonies moved towards open rebellion.

Leaving the city had been an eye-opener for all of them, each used to the sprawling urban landscape; suburbs, motorways, even _people_ that extended out from the city but that was centuries later. At this point in time there was nothing but nature, homesteads, and the odd small town that consisted of ramshackle buildings to bond the outliers together.

At first the silence was nice, but there were times where it was overwhelming. During those stretches Natasha wanted nothing more than to put in her headphones and just listen to music or watch the latest episode of some reality show. The sound of wood splitting pulled Natasha out of her thoughts and she went outside to investigate. Rounding the side of the cabin, she saw Steve at the woodpile.

“You’re chopping more? At this rate you’re going to deforest the entire area.” Natasha said with a faint smile. She knew that whenever Steve was restless he would head out to the woodpile and cut until he was exhausted. And because he had the serum it took a long time for him to get tired.

“Marian twisted her ankle and doesn’t have enough for the week. Thought I’d cut some for her.” Steve replied as he set the axe down on the stump and leaned on the handle. “Plus it gave me time to think.”

“About what?” 

“About getting home. It’s pretty clear that Strange and Stark have no idea where we are.” 

“True.”

“And since we’re in a time where a lot happens, we just need to…stand out or help out when something important happens.” Steve shrugged before rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. “At least that’s what Clint and I have been discussing.”

Natasha was silent for a moment, processing what Steve had told her. Finally she said, “That makes sense because we already know how this ends.”

“Exactly. That gives us an edge, we know where and when. Who wins or loses. We can use our skills to give the colonists a boost.”

“If we had done that at the Tea Party we could’ve been home by now.” 

“I know.” Steve sighed, letting his head drop a little while nodding, “But if I remember my history our next opportunity is Lexington and Concord. Think Connor’ll let us tag along?”

“I think so. I’ll find Clint and we can talk more about it.” Natasha gave Steve a quick nod and went back to the front of the cabin. She spent the rest of the morning looking for Clint in the usual places; the main house, the tavern, the forest but he wasn’t in any of them. Slightly concerned, she decided to check one last place-the coast line. Her and Clint had discovered it on the first day, getting an idea of the surrounding area so they knew what to expect if they needed a quick exit.

The cliffside overlooked the ocean and without beach houses and so many people around, it was a good place to go when you needed to be alone. Breaking out of the tree line, Natasha saw a lone figure sitting on the edge and knew even from that distance it was Clint. She didn’t know if he had his hearing aids in or not, he’d been trying to conserve the battery since they first arrived, so Natasha approached him from the side-letting him catch a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye.

Clint heard someone approach and tensed, hand resting on the knife at his side while turning around. Seeing it was Natasha, he relaxed while saying, “I have them on. I wanted to hear the ocean.”

“We’re still pretty far away to hear it.” Natasha asked while sitting next to him and letting her legs dangled off the edge of the cliff. “ You okay? Couldn’t find you in any of the usual places.”

“Yeah…I just needed some time to myself.”

They sat in silence and as time passed Natasha could faintly start to hear the sound of waves breaking. “Talked to Steve this morning. Said you two have been talking about a plan to get us home.”

“Sort of. More just trying to figure out how to do it exactly. We wanted to think it through before we told you.”

“It’s a good plan. Especially since we know how this ends.”

Natasha shifted closer to Clint and he slung an arm around her shoulders, “That’s what Steve said. Although we’ll have to wait until summer.”

“We’ve waited this long, a few more months won’t hurt.” Clint replied with a faint smile. If it didn’t work it would be a life on the homestead with Natasha and Steve. “Do you think it’d be so bad, living here?”

Natasha looked at Clint and wondered what was going on in his head. Normally she had a good read on her partner, they could communicate with a look and that’s one of the things that made them so effective together. But right now his expression wasn’t giving anything away. “On the homestead, probably not. Connor’s got a nice community set up.” she replied, glancing back towards the vista. “But you know how short the life expectancy was during this time right? You get a simple cold and die. And technically we’d be considered old people. We’re gonna have to get you a cane.”

Clint laughed at the barb, feeling some of the tension leaving his shoulders. “If I need a cane then so do you. But no…if this doesn’t work that’s the reality. We’d be stuck here and have to live without freezer pops and Netflix.”

Natasha took Clint’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “Well if that’s what happens…since you’re here with me, then it wouldn’t be so bad.”

Clint returned the squeeze and as Natasha lay her head against his shoulder said, “Yeah. It wouldn’t be so bad.”

—

The setting sun was painting everything in reds and golds and as Steve looked at it through the pine trees, he wondered if their plan was going to work. They’d all agreed to wait until Lexington and Concord to get a message or something to Tony and Strange. 

“ _We could leave something at the manor, but who knows if it’s still be around by then?_ ” Steve thought as he walked towards the cabin. Seeing the door to the manor open, he saw Connor step into the early evening. Steve nodded his head in greeting but didn’t stop to talk, the three of them tended to keep to themselves.

“Steve, do you have a moment?” Connor asked as he leaned against the railing and folded his arms.

“Another mission for the Order?” Steve didn’t mind helping Connor out, but Clint and Natasha were always better suited to the stealth and sabotage that most of his missions entailed.

“No, not yet. I have a question for you.” 

“Sure.” Joining Connor on the porch, Steve settled on the railing and waited for the other man to speak. 

“You, Clint, and Natasha have been here awhile now. How do you like it?” 

“It’s…peaceful. Not that where we’re from isn’t, but there’s a lot more people around.” Steve said as he glanced at Connor, wondering what the man was trying to get at.

“I suppose New York is busier than here.”

Steve let a smile cross his face, “Yeah you can say that. How’d you find this place? Seems kind of out of the way even for you.”

“After my village was attacked by Templars looking for an artifact. What about you? How did you end up in Boston?”

Steve shrugged, feeling uncomfortable with where the line of questioning was going. But he answered anyways, “Took a ship, same as most.”

“You three stood out that day, strange clothing and evading the guards like you have done that before. I asked around the harbor but no captain seemed to remember you.” Connor said as he straightened up and looked at Steve, who was gripping the railing so hard that his knuckles were turning white.

“Must have missed one.” 

“Then there are Clint’s bow and arrows, made of a material I have never seen. And him and Natasha use strange phrases some of the time. And you…I have never seen anyone run the way you do.”

“If you have a question, just ask it.”

“You are not from this time are you?”

Steve studied Connor and didn’t see fear on the man’s face, but curiosity. “No.” he said quietly, the sound early spring almost covering it up. “We’re not.”

“How did you arrive here then?”

“We’re pretty sure it’s because of a mystical necklace.”

“A Piece of Eden?”

Steve shook his head, “No, something else instead. But we’re planning to send a message back to our time soon. Hopefully we’ll get rescued.”

They fell into silence after that, watching as the reds and golds gave way to deep purples and darkness. Only when the last shadow disappeared did Connor speak again, “Is it all worth it?”

Steve wasn’t sure what Connor meant by the question, “Sorry?”

“All of this; the protesting in Boston and New York, the Sons of Liberty, the threats of breaking from England. Is it all worth it?”

Steve didn’t know how to answer the question; lie and Connor would spot it, but give away too much they could change history and then that’d be an even bigger mess. So he just stared at the stars while simply saying, “Yeah. It’s worth it.”

—

Lexington was a bloodbath. 

Clint knew that it would be. The militia was untrained and didn’t have enough ammunition while the British not only outnumbered them but had all the supplies and training in the world. But there would be even less militia there if the four of them hadn’t spent the night riding through the surrounding area with Paul Revere to warn them of the marching troops.

“Remind me again why this was a good idea.” Clint shouted to Natasha as they ducked behind a pile of logs as the British readied to fire. “Because this isn’t worth a stockpile of weapons!"

“This is the best chance for Tony and Steven to find us. Otherwise we’ll have to wait until Bunker Hill!” Natasha shouted back as the sound of muskets firing rang across the village square and felt the bullets hit the wood. Peeking over the edge of the logs, she could hardly see through the haze of gun smoke.

Hearing a sharp whistle over the battlefield noise, they looked towards the tree line where Steve was holding the reins of two horses. Knowing it was going to take a few minutes for the British to reload, they took the window and ran for the tree line-reaching it as musket balls kicked up dirt at their heels.

"Everyone's retreating to Concord, Connor’ll meet us there.” Steve said as he handed the reins to Natasha and Clint got on the horse first. “Warn the civilians to get somewhere safe, it’s going to get ugly.”

“Yes sir, Captain America.” Clint grinned at Steve’s frown as Natasha hopped on and galloped away from the battlefield. It was slow going because the road was chaotic, filled with militia running for Concord and civilians trying to flee in advance of the fighting. Somewhere along the way Clint overheard that the British were starting to take civilian hostages so the militia wouldn’t fire on them. 

His stomach tightening at hearing that, and what little silent sympathy he had for the British vanished. Feeling Natasha’s back straighten he knew that she was feeling the same way. Placing a hand on her shoulder as they continued to ride, he tried to silently reassure her that they’d deal with the soldiers in time. 

“Clint! Natasha!” 

Natasha pulled on the reins to slow the horse and cantered to a stop by Connor. “What’s going on?”

“The British are taking hostages.” Connor ground out, angry at the turn of events. They needed to get to Concord so the British could be stopped at Barrett’s farm, but at the same time he couldn’t just leave the townspeople to the mercy of the soldiers.

“Nat and I will deal with that. You and Steve get to Concord to help with the defenses.” Clint said while meeting Steve’s glance and knew the man wanted to go with them. But they were spread thin as it was and right now the colonists needed all the help they could get.

“Be safe.” Connor nodded as he turned his horse towards Concord, him and Steve disappearing in a cloud of dust.

“Ready for some fun?” Natasha asked as she took the horse off the road and into the trees. 

“Always.” 

Dismounting, Natasha and Clint silently made their way to where the hostages were. The sounds of fighting was still audible and they knew that soon the rest of the British forces would arrive. Hearing shouting in front of them, they ran towards the sound and Clint pulled out his bow while Natasha got her knives. 

Clint let an arrow fly and it hit the closest soldier in the chest. The others saw their comrade fall and turned to see what was going on, and by that time Natasha threw her knife at the next closest. Not pausing, Clint let another two more arrows fly and each hit their target. Natasha signaled that she was going for the hostages and Clint nodded, pulling out his knife. Going for the nearest soldier, this one stopped the knife with his bayonet and pushed back. Quickly moving so he didn’t fall down, Clint dodged a swipe of the bayonet and turned so he was coming at the soldier from the side while kicking at the man’s gun.

The rifle clattered out of his hands and Clint pulled the man’s arm back while slamming a leg up into his nose. Hearing a satisfying crunch, Clint reached for the pistol at the man’s side and pulled it out-pushing the man towards the ground and pulling the trigger. 

Dropping the now useless pistol to the ground, Clint looked up to see Natasha finishing with the last soldier. Going for the hostages, Clint freed their bonds while saying, “Grab what you can and run, the soldier’s are getting closer.” 

“Thank you!” one of the hostages called out as they ran back towards their houses.

“She likes you.” Natasha teased with a smile while wiping off her knife before sheathing it.

“Only ‘cause she thinks I’m younger than I really am.” Clint replied as he walked over towards the first solider and pulled out the arrow. The arrowhead was broken and Clint made a face, he really needed to start conserving the ones he had or make some.

A _crack_ cut through the air followed by distant yelling and they both paused, realizing what the sounds meant. The British were closer to Concord. Looking at each other, they both knew they needed to get to the battlefield fast.

—

By the time they arrived at Concord the battle was in full swing. The British on one side of the river were trying to take the bridge, if they did then the militia would be cut off and it would be another bloodbath. But so far the militia was holding their side of the river and Clint could spot a white and blue blur running back and forth between the entrenched men.

Knowing that there was no way they’d break through the lines, Natasha looked at Clint and knew that he was thinking the same thing. “You think we can really do this?” she asked while dropping down from her horse.

“Maybe. I know that we win here, but just looking at those lines makes me want to go back to the homestead.” Clint said as he did the same. Checking his gear, he decided to use his remaining arrows-even though he might not get them back. “But like you said earlier, this is the best chance we have at getting home.”

“Yeah. At least there aren’t any demi-gods in this battle.” 

Clint laughed as they finished checking their weapons, “That’s true. Honestly? This reminds me a little of Nicaragua.”

“Which part? I was thinking Belize.” 

Clint was silent for a moment before answering, “Maybe with the cover.” Taking a deep breath he steeled himself, “Ready?”

Natasha nodded, “With you? Always.”

The battle was loud enough to cover their movements so they only had to worry about shifting soldiers discovering their position. The plan was simple; hit them hard and fast, keep moving so they thought there were more than there really were. “ _It’s ironic that this is the kind of tactic that people like the Swamp Fox used._ ” Clint thought as he signaled for Natasha to take the ones on the left while he’d go for the ones on the right.

Hiding behind a tree, he waited for them to fire before slipping out of cover and going for a soldier at the end of the row. Covering the man’s mouth with his hand, Clint yanked him back and sank the knife into his back. Letting the man drop, Clint scrambled up the nearest tree and reached cover as the man’s comrades noticed his disappearance. Going up a few more branches, Clint unslung his bow and pulled an arrow from his quiver. 

He aimed at the nearest solider that was investigating the body and let the arrow fly. As the body hit the ground Clint let another arrow fly. Not pausing after the second one hit its target, Clint made his way to another tree-glad for the muted green and browns he was wearing. He watched as the soldiers aimed uselessly at the tree he was no longer at and let two more arrows fly, each one hitting their target.

Hopping over to another tree, Clint heard yelling all around him and hoped that Natasha was causing as much hell as he was. Scrambling down with ease, he slung his bow over his shoulder and crouched down-pulling out his knife as he did. Giving the group of men a wide birth, he circled back around to his original position and went for the backs of two more men. Unfortunately by that time the group seemed to of wised up and were quicker to react. Pulling out their pistols, they fired at Clint’s position and a bullet caught him in the shoulder. Cover blown, Clint decided to just fight all of them. 

Whipping around, Clint started towards them when there was a bugle call and everyone paused for a second-trying to figure out what it meant. Then the British turned and…ran.

“ _Okay, I know that I’m not_ that _terrifying._ ” Clint thought as he faltered for a second but kept pursuing them. Breaking through the trees, he saw what looked like the entire British force retreating.

“We did it. Well, we helped.”

Clint turned at Natasha’s voice and saw that she was relatively unharmed, a few scrapes and bruises but not bleeding from anywhere. Looking back at the retreating figures, he allowed a small smile on his face, “Yeah. We did. Let’s go find Steve and Connor.”

“And get you patched up.” Natasha said as they turned back towards the river and made their way to the bridge.

“How did you-”

“Clint. This is you we’re talking about.”

“True.” 

They found Steve, who had gunpowder smeared across his face and a few rips on his shirt, just on the other side of the river while spotting Connor talking with Barrett and a few other militia leaders. Connor didn’t look happy and Clint knew that later there’d be a few intense training sessions at the homestead.

“Looks like you had your own battle.” Steve said when they were nearer.

“You know us, can’t let you have all the glory Cap.” Clint winked as his shoulder gave a flash of pain. “But at least this should get their attention.”

“You’re right about that at least.” Steve nodded past Clint and Natasha. 

Turning around they saw the familiar gold-edged portal appear down river, Tony stepping through a few seconds later and glancing around before spotting them and sauntering over. 

“Took you long enough.” Clint tried to look annoyed but knew he was failing because they were finally going to go _home_.

“Yes well, when you have all of history and reality to go through it takes awhile. Although coming across accounts of a ‘red-haired devil’ at the battle of Lexington and Concord helps narrow it down. And having archeologists find arrowheads that _I_ developed also gave us a clue.” Tony said as he looked around the surroundings. “Does it always smell this gross?”

“Only after a battle. And I knew I left those arrows back there. You can make me more right Stark? Also, those hearing aids you made for me? Last over a fucking year before they start to lose the charge. Even with conserving the battery.” Clint rattled on as he walked towards the portal. “ _God_ , I am ready for a hot shower.”

“After we get that bullet taken care of. You and eighteenth century germs aren’t going to get along.” Natasha replied as she followed Clint through.

Tony paused, one foot through the portal when he realized that Steve hadn’t gone through yet. “You coming Cap?” he asked after turning around and seeing the man looking at something.

“In a second.” Steve replied over his shoulder. Seeing that Connor was looking at them, he raised his hand in farewell. The man had accepted them without much question and gave them shelter when most wouldn’t of. It seemed rude to vanish as suddenly as they had appeared, they at least owed the man some kind of goodbye.

Connor nodded his understanding that they were leaving and raised his hand in farewell.

Turning to face Stark, Steve could see the confusion on the older man’s face. “I’ll explain after some actual food.” he said crossing towards the portal. 

He was more than ready to go home.


End file.
